Figure for the city in the 12 months since the EU Referendum is in stark contrast to the rest of the UK where the number of construction vacancies has actually fallen by 5.59%. Tony McDonough reports

There has been an almost 22% surge in available construction jobs in Liverpool since the EU Referendum a year ago, a new study reveals.

The survey, by one of the UK’s leading job search websites Fish4jobs, is a positive indicator of the growth in the local construction sector.

However, it may also raise previously aired concerns about the chronic shortage of skilled construction workers across the North West.

Skills warning

In the last few weeks the boss of one developer behind £100m of construction projects in the city warned of a “skills crisis” in the industry.

Tony Anwyl, director of Anwyl construction, not enough people were coming through to replace an ageing workforce.

The 21.58% increase in construction jobs in Liverpool is in contrast to the UK average which has seen a decline of 5.59%. In London that fall was 10.83%.

There have been fears that companies would refrain from hiring new employees until uncertainty around foreign nationals working the UK was resolved as part of the Brexit negotiations.

Almost 12% of the 2.1m construction workers in the UK come from abroad, mainly from the EU. 

Price inflation

The Fish4jobs study also found the construction market in the north of England is set to experience the highest construction cost price inflation in the UK outside of London this year – at 3.6% compared to 2.9% in 2016. 

By comparison, southern and central England are set to see construction price inflation fall from 3.5% to 2% and 3.8% to 3.5% respectively.

One year on

Gary Fenn, Insight Analyst at Fish4jobs, said, “We are now one year on from the Brexit referendum, and it’s intriguing to see the effect it has had on the job market across the UK.

“There has been a lot of uncertainty for businesses and employees which has clearly impacted the construction job market differently across the UK.”

This latest job market data is sourced from Job Market Insights – which has an 85% representation of the UK job market.